stuff is cool

As most Windows installs tend to do, mine was aging and slowing down and getting to the point where a few days spent backing my data up and reloading my laptop would be well worth it. Then, I stumbled upon a thread by goon Jacko on the SomethingAwful Forums regarding a piece of software known as the Altiris Software Virtualization Solution. Basically, what it does is that whenever you install an application it tracks all the changes and keeps it in it’s own “layer”. Now, the tracking of actions for an installed application is nothing new as I remember a product from over a decade ago, Quarterdeck Cleansweep, that did just that. But, the thing that makes this application special is the “layer” portion. Instead of simply logging it, it actually sequesters all those changes into its own special area which SVS will continually track changes to. So, if the program you install creates a bunch of settings files or whatever after you finish with the installer, SVS will know that and it will store those changes in its layer.

“So what,” you say? Well, there are three really awesome benefits to this approach (for me anyway):

1. Prevents things like “registry rot” where uninstallers don’t clean up after themselves appropriately, even for older apps that have crappy installers
2. Allows me to migrate not just the program’s installation, but the exact program setup — config options, added plugins, generated data — from one machine to another (this was a huge time-saver after formatting/reinstalling)
3. Ability to selectively activate layers allows me to keep up the appearance of just using my work machine for work stuff (not that anyone cares, but it makes me feel good)

With all these benefits laid out there for me, my decision was simple. I backed up all my data (several times on a few different machines … I’m paranoid), and went ahead and wiped my laptop clean and reinstalled Windows. To be quite honest, the actual operating system installation was basically the longest portion of setup time. While it was reinstalling, I was working on a desktop PC at work that I had set up to use temporarily while my laptop was down, and I was creating all sorts of layers for use on my laptop. Then 50 minutes later, once the OS install was completed, pretty much all I had to do was copy over all the exported layers and import them into my laptop. That was it.

One of my biggest pet peeves used to be “all the crap I’ve got” on my laptop and how navigating it was a pain, whether it be in the start menu, on the desktop, in the add/remove programs dialog, or in the filesystem. Now I can simplify things by only activating seldom-used applications when I need them. So when I get home I can simply deactivate a lot of the work stuff and activate my poker stuff In fact, that brings me to a feature I wish was in this software (and it might be in future and/or pay versions): grouping layers into “profiles”. So, in my case, I could have a “work” profile and a “home” profile. Activating my “work” profile would activate DameWare, the Admin Pak, and all that while deactivating stuff like PokerRoom and XChat. Activating my “home” profile would do the opposite. All in all, activating/deactivating the layers individually is relatively speedy, which is good because my one pet peeve so far in using the software, although it’s an understandable thing to have to do, is that in order to create a new layer, you have to deactivate all the layers. My solution to this has been to simply create them on that temporary desktop PC I used while reinstalling on my laptop and then simply copy the exported layer over and importing it on my laptop. That has worked fairly well so far. It takes a little longer to do the installation, but the benefits are worth it.

Since the wipe/reload, of course everything is running a bit snappier (including the virtualized apps).

Since this post is long enough already, I’ll just end with a little side by side screenshot comparison which shows the Add/Remove programs dialog and Start menu for two situations: all of my layers deactivated (left), and my typical set of work layers activated (right, click for full-sized versions):

Note that the Add/Remove programs dialog only has a bunch of the Thinkpad stuff (which included drivers, stuff I didn’t think would play well with virtualized layers) in the left screenshot, whereas programs like 7-zip, Adobe Reader, and Firefox are present in the one on the right. You can also see the Google Talk shortcut which appeared on the desktop after I activated that layer.

If you want to try the software, check out the tutorial here. This site also has some free layers available for download as well.